Andre Smith, doing his thing on pro day (Photo by Bernard Troncale/Birmingham News)

Day 2 begins here in Tampa, with the start of the SEC basketball tournament just an hour away. So let's talk some football...
Some interesting developments in the last day or so:

Former Alabama left tackle Andre Smith has taken a lot of criticism for his disappearing act at the NFL Combine, along with other issues. Who is to blame? Smith's agent Alvin Keels, himself a newbie agent with just 10 athletes on his resume, said those who want to point fingers should do so at him. Keels spoke at length with columnist Ray Melick for this column about Smith's plight.

"I've taken a beating," Keels told Ray. "That's part of the business. But at the end of the day, we're in this together. We succeed together. We fail together. My goal is to succeed. Andre's is, too."

Keels wasn't done. He knows that not everyone Smith knows is thrilled with his counsel. He also knows that one NFL scout said the best thing Dre could do was call him up, fire him, and move on. (Well, at least he knows now if he read the article.) But Keels has an answer for those who are freaking out over a relationship they believe is based more on style than substance.

"I think that (age and race) might play a small factor," said Keels, a 29-year-old African-American. "But I've never been a fan of making business decisions around race and race only. I bring a lot to the table outside my race. I've done a number of landmark contracts in the league. I have some of the highest-paid players in the league. My credibility speaks for itself. I would think that stands out more than being an African-American agent."

As for the other Alabama guys -- John Parker Wilson, Rashad Johnson, Antoine Caldwell, Glen Coffee, etc. -- some of them allowed what they did at the Combine to stand. Coffee and Johnson didn't run the 40, just doing position drills. Wilson threw a lot, and seemed pleased. Caldwell did his work again and told the Montgomery Advertiser "I did better on the shuttle and I did my three-cone over again and I did a lot better on that, too. I just wanted to come out here and try to improve a little bit. I felt pretty good about the 40-yard dash time."